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EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

europarl.europa.eu

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Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#161

Post by dzhiurgis »

9HZZRfNlpR wrote: post #145
ken wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why stop at computers? Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, and every other power tool uses its own proprietary battery connector. Why stop at DC power? Last I checked, Germany, France, England, Italy, and many of the smaller countries all had their own AC power connectors. Why stop at hardware? iMessage, Hangouts, Messenger, Slack, and all the rest use their own proprietary interfaces. I still can't even save "a spreadsheet"…

AC wall plugs all work with each other besides the UK.

You can insert European plug in to UK socket if you stick scissors into ground pin hole which unlocks the curtains for main pins. Probably one of the worst safety features with unintended consequences...

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#162

Post by glogla »

briandear wrote: post #129
glogla wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mandating that all phones must have a headphone jack would make sense if manufacturers omitted it for anticompetetive or other nefarious reasons, knowingly acting against the interests of their customers. I guess that's a matter of opinion, because I am convinced that this is exactly what happened. Apple sells dongles for money and also makes money on Lightning licensing.

Do you still use a floppy drive? Was removing that “anti-competitive” or just seeing around corners. Wired anything is going away completely; just a matter of time. It isn’t some conspiracy to prevent you from using your old Walkman headphones.

Floppy drive was replaced by two things:

1) For software distribution, CDs. CDs were vastly superior in their read speed and size (400x bigger). CDs are open standard and are not controlled by any single entity and you don't need license to make one.

2) For transfer from computer to computer, by USB flash disks, which are vastly superior in size and speed and durability. USB is very open and there were (and are) many flash disks available on the market.

Meanwhile, 3.5mm Jack was "replaced" by

1) Proprietary bullshit connector, that needs a license from Apple or a dongle only sold by Apple. It is not superior in any way - it provides no better quality or extra features.

2) Bluetooth, which has advantage of wirelessness, but suffers lower sound quality and high latency - which of course Apple now solves by their proprietary bullshit codecs that only Apple headphones have, so they gained advantage through anti-competitive means.

As I see it, those situation are in no way similar. Apple is obviously abusing it's position in an anti-competitive way, and removing open and free solution to push it's proprietary one.

I know I'm not going to convince you, because with some people, Apple can do no wrong because otherwise their identity as fanboy would suffer. I'm sorry.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#163

Post by colejohnson66 »

jhoechtl wrote: post #29
jacknews wrote: post #10

Didn't the EU force phone makers to standardize on USB a couple of decades ago? It was an absolute nightmare before that with every brand having completely different connector, voltage etc. I'm not sure how Apple got (and are getting) around this.

Yes, and it worked out pretty well for all manufactures sans Apple. Now as we see a shift from Micro-USB to USB-C form factor the whole discussion really is more of customer adoption and fading out of old hardware. The case with Apple is and will be their claim that they are not willing to encumber their power interface for the sake of standardisation when their interfaces are oh so more advanced than those of the ot…

It’s not them claiming that their interface is more superior. They’re claiming that it’ll be another 30-pin to Lightning shift where everyone gets upset that their cables don’t work anymore.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#164

Post by cellularmitosis »

45ure wrote: post #148
cellularmitosis wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is having a government-mandated charging port going to have a positive environmental impact, other than by having a mandate which forces everyone to stick with their current connectors and stop adopting new ones?

There is likely to be a grace period involving a pragmatic discussion, before any regulation is passed. It will revolve around adoption of USB-C as a common standard moving forward, rather than the knee-jerk reaction you are proposing. The Commission's powers are subject to strict limits when adopting 'Delegated acts' which cannot change the essential elements of the law and must define objectives, content, scope and…

Thanks for the feedback, didn't intend to come across as knee-jerk. Its just that the idea of obsoleting every existing charger doesn't seem very environmentally friendly.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#165

Post by dublin »

ksec wrote: post #130
gambiting wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, at least one reason for different connectors is the fact that USB-C cannot support more than 100W(20V at 5amps). But I agree that literally every single laptop on the market that's below 100W should just use USB-C for charging.

>every single laptop on the market that's below 100W should just use USB-C for charging. Not just laptops, but electronics . Recently I had to replace the crappy default PSU for my Synology NAS. It only uses 18W at peak during Read usage with 2HDD. Why do I need a specific power supply for that? Most Router only uses 20W. TV Set Top Box / Recorder. Active Speakers. Electronic Shavers Battery Powered Small Drills or K…

I really don't get the love for USB-C here. It's really a horrible design - it's a huge step backwards from the "mag-safe" power connector Apple used to use (at least Microsoft uses a similar connector on its Surface computers, which is one more reason to love them), it fills with lint, dust and gunge even worse than the Lightning connector (which is unacceptable), and worst, USB-C is the most egregious tarpit of unknown interoperability ever created. Sure the connectors mate, but what version of USB does it support? Which capabilities even within those versions? Is it Thunderbolt-capable, or does it just look like it? While I recognize the reality that Intel has foisted this steaming pile of confusion on us, the right answer is, "No, locking our children into this travesty of poor design is an idea so bad it could only have come from government idiots. We should not mandate something so stupidly bad as USB-C. We deserve better."

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#166

Post by squilliam »

ksec wrote: post #130
gambiting wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, at least one reason for different connectors is the fact that USB-C cannot support more than 100W(20V at 5amps). But I agree that literally every single laptop on the market that's below 100W should just use USB-C for charging.

>every single laptop on the market that's below 100W should just use USB-C for charging. Not just laptops, but electronics . Recently I had to replace the crappy default PSU for my Synology NAS. It only uses 18W at peak during Read usage with 2HDD. Why do I need a specific power supply for that? Most Router only uses 20W. TV Set Top Box / Recorder. Active Speakers. Electronic Shavers Battery Powered Small Drills or K…

USB-C is overkill for just being a dumb power connector. I can buy average barrel-jacked PSUs for cheaper than a single USB-C PD cable! and then you have you pay for all the expensive USB PD components on the product as well just to support it.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#167

Post by dublin »

ken wrote: post #95
fierarul wrote: post #25

Why stop at mobile phones? Is there a reason laptops need so many different connectors? I am willing to bet many random connectors are just planned obsolescence or a secondary revenue stream for producers. Also, let's take this further. Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? We are throwing away perfectly good displays on broken laptops. What if I could buy a $20 adaptor and…

Why stop at computers? Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, and every other power tool uses its own proprietary battery connector. Why stop at DC power? Last I checked, Germany, France, England, Italy, and many of the smaller countries all had their own AC power connectors. Why stop at hardware? iMessage, Hangouts, Messenger, Slack, and all the rest use their own proprietary interfaces. I still can't even save "a spreadsheet"…

FWIW, batteries period may be the wrong technology for most users of these devices.

Personally, I'd happily trade the need to have multiple battery packs with long charging times for ultracapacitor powered tools that might not run as long, but could be recharged to full power in seconds. Cost really might not prohibitively higher since you wouldn't need so many of the battery packs anyhow, and chargers could readily be run off of either wall current or your car/truck.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#168

Post by mendelmaleh »

microtherion wrote: post #151
zaarn wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU luckily didn't put their foot down so phones were allowed to progress from mini-usb over micro-usb to USB-C. It definitely helped a lot (but Apple still kinda ruined it).

Yeah, I was thinking that getting stuck on micro-USB for an years or decades would have been a less than happy outcome. Not quite sure what to think of USB-C yet. Certainly feels more mechanically solid than micro-USB, but subjectively, the plug connection seems a bit slippery. Cables seem to disconnect spontaneously more than they do with e.f. Lightning.

More than slippery, I think simply some ports (ie the Pixels) are looser than others.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#169

Post by mendelmaleh »

Why? standardization is nice, but to impose it? Is there any definition for 'overreach' for the EU, or those this have no end?

At what point is a product too 'complex' to standardize?

Why not standardize the phones themselves, the cars, then standardize life and give us barcodes...

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#170

Post by ksec »

dublin wrote: post #165
ksec wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>every single laptop on the market that's below 100W should just use USB-C for charging. Not just laptops, but electronics . Recently I had to replace the crappy default PSU for my Synology NAS. It only uses 18W at peak during Read usage with 2HDD. Why do I need a specific power supply for that? Most Router only uses 20W. TV Set Top Box / Recorder. Active Speakers. Electronic Shavers Battery Powered Small Drills or K…

I really don't get the love for USB-C here. It's really a horrible design - it's a huge step backwards from the "mag-safe" power connector Apple used to use (at least Microsoft uses a similar connector on its Surface computers, which is one more reason to love them), it fills with lint, dust and gunge even worse than the Lightning connector (which is unacceptable), and worst, USB-C is the most egregious tarpit of unk…

I only like USB-C for the power delivery. I dont like USB-C in itself at all.
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